“Mutes, Hotels and Fashion Shows” — the euphonium’s greatest global ambassador, live from the 2012 Melbourne International Brass Festival. Steven Mead joined Sarah Willis via Google Hangout in the series’ first week, with questions flooding in from the live chat and Facebook.
Mead is one of the most travelled brass soloists in history, and it shows: this is a funny, generous conversation about the realities of life as a touring virtuoso — recorded during the same Melbourne festival week Brassbanned was streaming.
In this conversation
- Life on the road as the world’s busiest euphonium soloist
- Mutes, sound, and the tools of the trade
- Melbourne, the festival, and Australian brass
- Live audience questions from around the world
Transcript
Auto-generated from the live stream — expect the occasional robot mishearing.
[Music] we are online we are on live chat on the website and um and please write in ask us some questions Steve I’ve already got some questions people have been busy on Facebook this morning oh gosh and uh just you just to explain you’re in Melbourne for the Melbourne International brass Festival yes I’ve been here since Monday I’ve been in Australia for nearly three weeks and this is my last day I’m going home at midnight tonight so it’s the grand finale the grand finale what’s happening today well in about half an hour I have a recital here in this beautiful Hall at the headquarters of the Melbourne Festival of brass and I have a recital accompanied some a lot of people will have seen this wonderful piano player this week kazia weed Chik from Poland who lives in Germany and she’s absolutely amazing it’s the first time we’ve known each other for years but actually today is the first time we play together and uh rehearsals when we’re not laughing um have been absolutely amazing that’s a good side of I’m a little bit worried in a few places because we’ve laughed so much through certain bits and of course nobody knows where they are I’ve got a real horrible worry that we’re going to burst into fits of laughter in the most serious thing and nobody’s gonna know why well you’re actually incredibly cool because if you have a recyle now it’s in it’s in what in 20 minutes half an hour yeah something like that which is going to be by the way dear viewers they’re it’s going to be live streamed on www.
brassband do.com the wonderful Tim Kelly is going to live stream this concert he’s done all week with all the other fantastic concerts so you can stay online and watch Steve’s watch Steve dissolve into fits of laughter with his wonderful accompanist well I hope I hope not I really I’m no I think we’re GNA hold it together we’ve we’ve had a chat about this so a I like that it’s we like it when things like that happen it makes the music more more personal well look no I don’t think there’s going to be laughter but it’s certainly not going to be a really stuffy recital because it’s the end of the week people have had so many concerts here um and the and the music there’s one fairly serious original piece called three Expeditions and the rest are a mixture of of really fun pieces really crazy virtuosic pieces and um one of my favorite ever slow pieces the col nid by Max brook or that’s not a eonian piece no well you’ll have to just suspend reality for about nine minutes if if if book had if he’d heard this he would have written it for if he’d heard the euphonium he would have written it for euphonium don’t you think thank you Sarah well I say that about most Arrangements that I play but there isn’t anything else oh stop it I haven’t got to I haven’t got long enough to correct that comment we got we’ll do that in another interview yeah yeah yeah yeah that another interview so Steve one thing I wanted to ask you is is your air miles uh account through the roof you know it should be it should be I I don’t really look and because I travel so many different airlines and I don’t know I have to check really I don’t get offered lots of free flights and I don’t get many upgrades I think they look at me and think there’s a guy with short legs he doesn’t need extra room so we’ll put him at the back and I’m sitting next to people whose legs are crushing the seats in front and I thank God every day that I’m not the tallest person in the world it’s fine for traveling anyone is listening what what airline are you flying on tonight Singapore Airlines Singapore if anyone’s listening from Singapore Airlines please upgrade this man even if he has short legs he still needs his space it’s 5 midnight to Singapore and then and then about 9 something in the morning from Singapore to London okay well I hope you get an upgrade will you write in and tell us Sarah that’s a great thought do you think someone from Singapore Airlines is watching this if they are we will do our best to get this word out there great idea what muonium do you take it as hand luggage I do yeah um I’ve done it for many many years is I’ve had a few close scrapes sometimes where a stewardess is adamant that it’s too long so what would you advise all euphonium players that are watching right now that have problems taking their euphonium on players easy you need you need a gig bag and a smile and a smile okay and you need to I I heard an interview with you where you said that um that when they say will you play something it was somebody’s birthday and you did yeah oh yeah you well the funny comment is they always say do you actually play it know like you carry this around for no reason just just so you could take it on a plane to say you’ve got it on a plane no I’m I love look I love playing and I love every opportunity it seems a bit weird sometimes to play at an airport security um you know but I’ve done it in a few places and I’ve done it on planes play checkin maybe if you played in checkin that at checkin you’d get an upgrade maybe what just randomly hey by the way if I play with don’t think it works like that Sarah come on you’re well traveled you do members of the Berlin hang on members of the Berlin fi always travel first class I forgot what a redundant question that’s not true only if we have our own plane it’s getting worse which is very rarely obviously usually it’s the Berlin Phil um Airbus 380 I’m sure now no one’s offered us to 380 yet so that will be my next but never mind let’s not start that the Singapore Singapore that’s right always yeah always the 380 no actually you know to be honest it’s it’s it’s not the um it’s not the bit of the my gig that I like the best traveling with the instrument to checkin through security getting on the plane worrying that someone’s going to crush the instrument but I still think I have it easier than than tuber players who have to check their instruments in yeah but they just they just there’re so Tu players are very laidback there’s nothing they can do about it they have to send their their instruments exactly but then they don’t know sometimes whether they’re going to they going to get charged hundreds of Euro excess baggage or whether it’s going to get damaged or not at least I know it’s not going to get damaged so you know it’s my baby it’s my B look the way I’m holding it you know your baby a so you have does he have a name don’t be silly is he male or female I don’t think about things like that it’s beyond it’s beyond that moving swiftly along M pieces no no um Steve you you don’t mind the traveling it’s part of what you do and you are an absolute Ambassador you are Mr you are Dr euphonium Mr euphonium there is no better known euphonium player in the world than you if I may say so well Sarah you’re very kind I’ve been doing it for a long time I’ve been traveling really something like this schedule for about 25 years I turned 50 this year and it was a chance to kind of look back and think you know why the hell am I doing this well the answer this very simple answer is that I love it um there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing otherwise I’d probably be doing it just how long I can keep it up I don’t know honestly if I could do 10 more years of traveling um you know and play to the highest level I’d be absolutely thrilled but it’s not are you waiting for someone to do you think when when it’s that far you’ll you’ll I always ask myself this question will I know when it’s time to stop yeah I definitely will oh someone someone called Anne has written in and said hi to Steve and Sarah so hello to Anne thank you for watching and and jeppi jeppe has asked a question why haven’t you played with the Berlin Phil yet um uh I think my fees are too expensive no just kidding um because I’m still waiting for the invite Sarah maybe this is my in I’ll see what I can do no I I would love I love playing with Orchestra and I I you know to play with a great Orchestra is just one of life’s greatest thrills as a euphonium player and we have some really fabulous literature now not all Arrangements Sarah um so who knows I’m sure moart would have written Mozart would have written a euphonium conero if he he did but he inadvertently called it a bassoon conero just to get it published all right okay um but what what pieces would you play with the symphony orchestra what would be if the brilin Phil calls up and says you can do any conero you want what would you choose oh my goodness me it depends if it was one of the really kind of serious concerts or whether it was a Pops concert but most of your ones are pretty serious so um oh I have a a list of two or three actually that I would probably offer um the euphonium conto by Yuka linkola is really extraordinary um Norwegian composer um the the big um Hallows kerto by rol Rudin I played with the stut guard Orchestra it’s great um there’s a new one Robert Gro from Belgium which is fabulous with Symphony Orchestra and they they kind of break the mold from the things you’d expect e phoning players to do as you always mimic that I’m always going there’s a bit of that but not all the when you look you up on YouTube um all you hear is you hear the most amazing virtuostic stuff it’s just incredible how fast a euphonium can play We horn players couldn’t dream of it see what you have what you have to remember is that the artists never post that stuff up on YouTube other people choose to do it and if they’re more fascinated by a billion notes per minute then they’ll do that rather than something beautifully slow or something different but you know YouTube is a mindfield and and now every time I play a concert and you see seven or eight mobile phones being held up in the air you know that probably within three or four hours it’s going to be on on YouTube so it’s a bit of a pressure I mean you can’t like it or dislike it it’s almost a way of life these days yeah yeah I know that nothing you can’t go anywhere without a mobile phone being held in or many of them you’ll have probably have it today as well but it’ll be live streamed your aital so there’s no need for them to do that well they’ll be there anyway but yeah they can all watch it so what what is it you actually prefer doing most concerts with symphony orchestras you come from a brass band back background um you record all the time I mean do you have something where you think yes that’s just that’s where you feel it most at home honestly honestly Sarah I love the I love the variety I mean today to get a chance to play a really big recital with a fabulous pianist like kazia is is great playing with a with a big wind Orchestra and a beautifully tuned Wing win Orchestra is a great pleasure playing with one of the top brass bands is such a an organic kind of massive experience because of the naturee of sound I love playing with strings I love playing with Symphony Orchestra and during the summer I did some recital just with electronics so it’s actually the variety that I love and I’m you know I’m a bit of a perfectionist so so long as it’s done well um then then it’s fine what did you do with electronics tell me well um I’ve got a whole been over the last few years I’ve been collecting pieces with electronics and then I was spurred on by a couple of new pieces that fell into my lap um which I thought were great there’s a piece called Hummingbird by the American composer Steven Bryant uh piece called jet a which is about um basically jumping out of an airplane with a parachute by Pete me um concert yeah I did I did some I did a gerswin set at the Milan fashion show actually on the catwalk for a fashion company about five years ago so I’ve been doing this 20 minute gersan set with electronic backing um I’ll have to show you that I is that can I see that on YouTube or is that is that I’ll show you that sometime love to see probably yeah it was with it was with it was with a fashion company called Roberto damarino Italian company and uh they got me playing on the catwalk you know to gerswin playing live with beautiful models walking up and down so those that heard my summer concerts will have heard this year that’s fantastic I wish I could have seen that is can we see it on YouTube anywhere well I’m not sure whether the fashion house still have that I mean because they’re always working on their their latest shows but if you look at the Roberto De camarina website they may still have some archive shows there yeah yeah got some more people saying hello to you but mostly horn players horn players are um they just come to see they just come to see you and they go who’s that bold guy I want to know where all your fans are but we will put this up so that all your fans can see see you chatting I guess I guess I should take it a little bit more seriously because actually seeing you and we haven’t seen each other for ages we’ played together together in June in Singapore and before that in Italy but um just seeing you I’m more tempted to treat this as a Skype call and just catch up but I guess we should ask some euphonium questions well I think most of my euphonium Pals have set their alarm clock um for one minute before the recital because most of them are in Europe and sleeping but I know there’s a lot of Japanese players so hello to them um there’s I’ve even heard of a few American enthusiasts that are staying up it’s like 3: in the morning there so um if happy to be tuning in a really big hello to them yeah no they should be and we’re going to be watching we yob was here helping me he and I going to have breakfast to your concert um because it’s very early here we’re in the digital Concert Hall office here that um because no one who’s going to let us in at this time of the morning are you on with the orchestra today no the orchestra is playing in Istanbul tonight um and but I’m with Stef on door we’re off to uh to to Moscow tomorrow to play the concert wow very good you could arrange that for four euphoniums really it’s probably been done it’s probably been done it probably have um somebody wanted to know a question um do you practice all the time with practice mutes in in hotel rooms uh when I have to if I was in a hotel room where I could get away with not practicing I’d probably just use it a little bit for a specific reason and then play open and I’ve been quite lucky this week that we’ve had some apartments provided um with all like-minded brass people people around so yeah there are some hotels where I have to keep the mute in all the time and is it your mute you design all these mutes don’t you show me oh it’s a red M now there’s a perfect opportunity for a little no people think that people think you you fed me that question so that that’s my that’s my travel mute [Music] I don’t know you can hear the difference on the internet but it’s certainly can you certain 70 debels difference that’s very impressive I think it’s just it’s it’s immediately made the um the picture Buzz because there’s no chance for the recital and you you designed can you design me one please for the horn I’m sure you’ve got one Sarah I have but it’s not I mean it’s okay but I want a red one I don’t think a Steven me French horn m is going to sell to anybody I mean even you’ll want a free one so of course of course um but you your your internet site euphonium domnet that it it’s like an Ode to the euphonium isn’t it well yeah I mean it it it’s actually it’s undergoing a bit of a renovation within two weeks it’s going to have a completely new look but yeah it’s that’s fun and I’ve got a web store euphonium store.net which which is an outlet for a lot of the recordings and with doing digital downloads from about two weeks from now so um that’s be another way for people to get hold of recordings they’re already on YouTube um on iTunes and stuff like that but um should work out a little bit cheaper that I mean the the whole musical industry has changed totally with with with the internet um and you do so many recordings is it a worry for you that everyone can sort of get hold and pirate and all the rest of it well the alternative is just not make recordings I mean to some extent you’re in the hands of the industry regulating itself and you hope that places like Spotify actually get a little bit more kind to the musicians that they’re they’re playing and and give a bit more of their their money to them um but no I think the secret for anyone in the music business is you know none of us on our own can actually influence anything what we can do is is try and spot the changes coming and and stay a breast of it the worst thing you can do is put your head in the Sands if that was the case I’d still be making LPS you know so what are they yeah exactly well um you you have to go warm up I know I don’t want to keep you till right the very last moment although I’d like to what times are you’re you’ve got another well another 15 minutes before you start you tell you say when you have to go but I need to get some euphonium euphon stuff in here as well someone euphonium mute is totally cool um uh so that that was a good one um what what is what is your pride of joy of all this all the stuff you’ve designed brought into the is it is it the the instruments that you’ve designed what would you say is your your legacy uh I don’t know really I mean no no one thing I mean I’ve helped Besson with the design and the testing certainly of the these best and Prestige euphoniums which I adore um I’ve worked with a Dennis Wick company on some mouthpieces and today is the first or one of the first concerts with a new prototype Ultra X mouthpiece which is released officially next month um that will hopefully looks like a to me it looks like a bucket it’s so big it’s not so it’s a you maybe maybe the bucket’s getting bigger it’s bigger than my head what it’s called it’s a a Dennis Wick Ultra 3x and um that’s it it’s got a hole in the middle thank God and um and you cleaned it actually no this one is brass I really should clean it better I’ve got a goldplated one but for some sentimental reason I played on this since the beginning of July and it just lives on my face so um but the mute actually one of the things I was happiest with if you look at these Springs you probably can’t even see them going and down I design I design designed some valve springs that makes the valves really silent and really fast and not bouncy um you can’t see them and they’re only really small and quite insignificant but to me they make a huge difference because I can play very precisely and very quick um and the valves take care of themselves no I I mean I think if you’re a musician and you get the chance to develop stuff it’s it’s a real privilege to do it you know it’s not half as much fun as playing playing is the ultimate pleasure because you know that’s how we communicate with people it’s how I communicate with people around the world um the equipment thing is very secondary but um yeah it doesn’t really answer your question but no I don’t we’ll just keep just keep working and um trying to make things better yeah but I think that’s you’re you’re a total package you are like you don’t just offer your musicality and your playing no you are he’s a pretty great package this guy really you offer the eonian world I mean it’s amazing what what you do it really is I mean you’re there you’re online you’re available um people have have the feeling they talk to you like me even at this time of the morning um and and then you go out and you you do the most amazing concerts I mean I have total utter respect for what you do I we need to we need to keep this sort of this hangout thing going on in our brass world it’s really I mean Tim is really helping us to turn it Global and yeah he’s done an amazing job I mean last night I watched the James Morrison concert from my apartment I had I needed a an evening in just to catch up things before the final day and the quality of what they did last night was just Sensational so um something close to this afternoon I’ll be very happy the quality of this afternoon is going to be great so I think I better let you go because you’ve got 10 minutes to warm up nine nine okay nine minutes ago thank you I got and I’m on the second floor so that’s seven okay well walk very slowly we don’t want you getting out of breath I put the music on I put the music on stage already so that’s something less to think about well thank you much and I think we should continue this conversation at some point and um and have a wonderful recite we’re going to now have our breakfast here in Berlin watch live on brass band.com and have a great flight let us know if you’re update if you get upgraded I think it’s unlikely but I will for sure tell you thank you and please uh get something done for horn and euphonium because I want to play with you yes exactly it’s on it’s on my list Sarah honestly great okay right Love Steve Steve thank you so much stay tuned and watch this recital on brass band.com I hope you all enjoy it thank you we will bye Steve bye [Music]
Horn Hangouts are created by Sarah Willis of the Berlin Philharmonic. Brassbanned is a proud long-time collaborator and streaming partner.
